U.s. Fighter Planes Leaving Philippines

Troop Withdrawal From Overseas Bases To Begin Next Year

November 08, 1990|By From N.Y. Times News Service

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The United States will withdraw fighter planes from a base in the Philippines and reduce its troop strength there starting next year, moving toward the Filipino position on the U.S. military bases here, an American official said Wednesday.

After arriving for the second round of talks on the future of the bases, Richard L. Armitage, a special negotiator, told the Philippine foreign affairs secretary, Raul S. Manglapus, that the United States would pull out its 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing from Clark Air Base. The wing is the largest U.S. unit at the base.

Armitage also told Manglapus that the United States would no longer deploy fighter planes at Clark Air Base.

The Philippines has said that fighter aircraft and combat troops in the U.S. bases must be removed by September 1991.

The U.S. Embassy, in a statement, said the United States had decided not to station F-15E aircraft at Clark Air Base beginning in 1991 as originally planned. Instead, the United States will base the squadron in Alaska.

"The net effect of this decision is that at some point in 1991, the United States will have no fighter aircraft permanently based in the Philippines and that more than 1,800 U.S. military personnel will have departed," the embassy statement said.

In April, the United States announced the withdrawal of another fighter squadron from Clark Air Base beginning in May 1991.

The Philippines wants full control of Clark Air Base and four small military installations by September 1991.

During the first round of talks on the bases, held in September, the Philippine panel also proposed joint use of Clark Air Base with the U.S. Air Force. The Philippines has said it would accept a later date for regaining full control of Subic Naval Base.

A spokesman for the Philippine panel, Rafael M. Alunan, said the decision on the F-15E planes "strengthens the U.S. position."

The U.S. Embassy statement said the move was not entirely governed by the talks, adding that the "decision was influenced, though not dictated, by the government of the Philippines' publicly expressed position."